Intel Turbo Memory

Intel Turbo Memory is a technology introduced by Intel Corporation that uses NAND flash memory modules to reduce the time it takes for a computer to power up, access programs, and write data to the hard drive. During development, the technology was codenamed Robson.[1] It is supported by most of the Core 2 Mobile chipset series, but not by the newer Core i Series mobile chipsets.

Overview

The technology was publicly introduced on October 24, 2005, at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Taiwan when a laptop that booted up almost immediately was demonstrated.[2] The technology attempts to decrease hard drive usage by moving frequently accessed data over to the flash memory. Flash memory can be accessed faster than hard drives and requires less power to operate, thereby allowing laptops to operate faster while also being more power efficient.[3][4]

The Turbo memory cache connects to a motherboard via a mini-PCIe interface. It supports features available in Microsoft Windows Vista, namely ReadyBoost (a hard-drive caching solution via flash memory) and ReadyDrive (a hard-drive caching solution via hybrid drives). These features allow both read caching and write caching of data. Often this is implemented with a Disk Filtering Option ROM (DFOROM).

Availability

Intel Turbo Memory was made available on May 9, 2007, on the Intel's Santa Rosa platform and their Crestline (GM965) chipsets. Intel Turbo Memory 2.0 was introduced on July 15, 2008, on Intel's Montevina platform and their Cantiga (GM47) chipsets. It is available in 1, 2, and 4GB modules. It is supported in the Intel 965 Express chipset, and the Intel 4 Series Express chipsets (2GB and 4GB modules only).

Several retailers, such as Acer,[5] Asus,[6] Dell,[5] Lenovo,[7] Sager,[8] Toshiba,[5] etc., sold laptops enabled with the Intel Turbo Memory technology.

Reception

A review in AnandTech largely concurred with some OEM criticism finding that "it basically does nothing for the user experience".[9] HP refused to use the technology.[10] Ars Technica wrote in 2009 that Turbo Memory "never took off",[11] and CNET similarly pronounced that it was "never widely adopted",[12] because "Turbo Memory (and Turbo Memory 2.0) wasn't cheap, and it definitely wasn't worth the cost."[13]

In 2009 Intel had announced the successor to Turbo Memory for the 5-Series mobile chipsets, codename Braidwood. However, the series was launched without this technology. The ThinkPad lineup built on the first generation Intel Core-i platform features lands to connect a Braidwood module, however no production ThinkPad motherboard had the connector populated.[14] In 2011, The Register wrote "I think we can say Braidwood has sunk without trace."[15]

gollark: I blame tooling which isn't good enough to catch many errors.
gollark: > <@258639553357676545> you can just make a section and put random data in this<@!309787486278909952> Ideally it would be better hidden as stuff like, I don't know, extra strings in the binary, or vaguely real-looking-if-you-don't-check functions.
gollark: Partly.
gollark: Anyway, I do blame C (or at least the combination of C and not using valgrind or something) for programmers being stupid.
gollark: If I knew more about executable formats I might actually make that.

See also

References
  1. Gruener, Wolfgang (March 16, 2007). "Intel's Robson gets a real name: Turbo Memory". TG Daily. Archived from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  2. Nystedt, Dan (October 17, 2005). "Intel slashes PC power-up times". Macworld. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  3. "Intel Discloses Technologies To Make The Internet More Personal And Mobile" (Press release). Intel Corporation. March 7, 2006. Retrieved May 10, 2006.
  4. Loh, Victor; Case, Loyd (March 10, 2006). "Intel's Robson Boosts Hard Drive Performance". ExtremeTech. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  5. David, Meyer (June 4, 2007). "HP says no to Intel's Turbo Memory". ZDNet.co.uk. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  6. Lo, Harry (July 24, 2007). "Asus Now Offers Intel Turbo Memory on Notebooks". HotHardware.com. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  7. "Notebook features short descriptions". Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  8. "The new Sager NP8660 notebook". Sager Notebook Computer. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  9. Investigating Intel's Turbo Memory: Does it really work?, AnandTech
  10. HP says no to Intel's Turbo Memory, CNET
  11. Intel's new flash tech to bring back Turbo Memory, for real, Ars Technica
  12. Crothers, Brooke (6 June 2009). "Intel 'Braidwood' chip targets snappier software". CNET. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  13. Intel's 'Braidwood'--Turbo Memory done right?, CNET
  14. "X201 tablet mod: adding a 3rd (and maybe 4th) mini PCIe". thinkpads.com Support Community. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  15. Intel trying a flash cache again, The Register
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